Ansible Motion is a leading global designer and manufacturer of advanced Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) simulators. With a company heritage closely associated with the motorsports industry but nowadays also serving major road car and speciality vehicle manufacturers, its DIL solutions are available in a variety of form factors from test bench models with steering force feedback to highly dynamic 6 degree of freedom (6-DOF) simulators combining software, mechatronics, video and audio for a truly immersive multi-sensory experience.

Ansible’s DIL
simulators are used for real-time vehicle model development and cross-functional
product development through to expert driver evaluation of simulated vehicle
dynamics and electronics system tuning. Ansible has chosen Heason Technology as
its motion control supply partner for high specification motors, drives, linear
units and precision actuators that enable the simulations expert to deliver the
extremely high specification systems required by the automotive and motorsports
industry.

Ansible introduced
and patented its ‘stratiform’ DIL platform in 2009 from a vision described by Kia
Cammaerts, its founder and technical director, “To develop what an automotive
style driving simulator should be, and how it should behave.” Working from the
specific requirements to convince the most experienced test drivers and professionals,
the Ansible design team use what they term as ‘cues’ that cover all of the haptic,
inertial and environmental inputs that are sensed in real-time and are
essential for completely assured driver perception

In terms of a road
vehicle simulation, this perception needs the hardware and software system to deliver
each of these cues with millisecond level response times to the driver’s
actions. Alternative concepts such as the Stewart Platform or Hexapod
structures, though adequate for the relatively slow response times for aircraft
simulation or the pseudo-realistic ‘shaking’ experience of entertainment motion
bases, just cannot deliver this level of accurate dynamic response. Such
structures also require complex kinematic transformation algorithms even for
simple moves such as straight line horizontal motion.

Mechanical
System

Ansible Motion’s stratiform
mechanical system is based on a series of stages using linear actuators that
can individually deliver the intensity of acceleration and jerk which road
level vehicles from racing cars to commercial trucks are subjected to in
everyday situations. Each of several ground plane motion cues and other inertial
cues are actuated by a separate motor with a typical dynamic simulator system
such as Ansible’s Delta series having between 6 and 13 servo motion axes. Phil
Morse, Ansible’s technical liaison engineer explains, “The first three stages
of our stratiform deliver Surge, Sway, and Yaw, continuing to work upwards we
encounter a 3-DOF parallel machine that addresses the remaining three vehicle motion
axes - Heave, Pitch, and Roll. This describes the primary 6-DOF, and the
remaining motors (numbers 7-13) are assigned to supplemental cueing devices such
as handwheel torque feedback, seatbelt loading, helmet loading (in racing
applications), pedal actuators, seat actuators, and so on.”

This stacked
geometry is essentially an X, Y, Z platform with multiple stages in each axis that
move independently or with synchronous compound movements to produce all the motions
required for convincing driver perception. Fore and aft movement is from the X
axis producing the surge element, side to side motion from the Y axis produces
sway, and linear actuators take care of Z axis motion for heave or bounce. The ingenious linear mechanics include
actuators to produce rotations around these linear axes to simulate pitch, yaw
and roll. As opposed to the previously mentioned hexapod, as many movements are
generated from a single axis, the system response is extremely fast, tethered
directly to simulated vehicle physics, and the control is simplified.

Motion system

Ansible Motion developed
its own EtherCAT-master based vehicle dynamics hardware and software platform that
combines streamed motion commands into the stratiform’s servo drives completely
coordinated with photorealistic graphic projection and surround sound. The
complete system works in combination with multiple sensor inputs from the
driver’s interaction – steering, accelerator, brake, clutch, and gear selection
etc. – with the capability to adapt the vehicle characteristics with model
simulation of factors such as road surface, tyres, suspension or specific on-board electronic control
system modelling. In this way, the complete system loop is effectively closed
by the driver in the same way as if he or she is driving an actual vehicle.

Ansible Motion’s stratiform
offers benefits on many levels. For driver evaluation or training, it can
combine with inertial measurement units (IMUs) which precisely record the specific
force and angular rates in real-time to compare actual performance under driver
control with the driver’s perception of performance. For driver experience and
training, a real-time laboratory control environment is made possible, where
for instance a skilled racing driver can approach the same area of a circuit
repeatedly with perfectly consistent conditions - honing and perfecting
expertise, free from unknown factors which an actual race track with its
unpredictable environment would not allow. The benefits of the ability to
monitor such an array of measurement channels and system/environment
interactions from both the car and drivers point of view are obviously of great
interest to the motorsports industry. For automotive vehicle and component manufacturers,
using a DIL system has enormous benefits in accelerating product development with
faster time to market and the ability to simulate all kinds of functional equipment
for new vehicle design, model upgrades or modifications etc.

Heason
Technology – supply partner

Heason Technology’s
application team has worked closely with Ansible Motion for several years,
providing motion control expertise as well as supporting and delivering a wide
range of products over many versions of the stratiform DIL simulator during its
evolution as an automotive industry tool. As UK distribution partners for a
select number of globally recognised motion control companies, the motion
systems integrator and component supplier has full design and build capability
from its West Sussex facility that includes custom-built mechanics with servo
controls for the most demanding applications across industry and research.

For the many
varied requirements of Ansible Motion, Heason supplies linear units and linear
actuators from Thomson Linear along with both housed AKM series and frameless
KBM series Kollmorgen brushless servo motors matched with Kollmorgen S700
EtherCAT networked servo drives, together with custom length motor power and
feedback cables, all backed with extensive design and application support from
Heason’s motion engineering team.

Phil Morse
concludes, “Heason Technology’s high level of technical support and the high-quality
motion components from Thomson and Kollmorgen that they supply combines for a
great working relationship that considerably helps us to deliver fast,
responsive, and highly precise DIL simulators to our customers across
motorsport and automotive industries.”

Jon Howard, Heason’s MD adds, “Working with Ansible on this remarkably
interesting application has challenged our motion applications team to the
limit from where they have delivered both technically advanced motion equipment
and expert technical support to facilitate Ansible delivering world-leading
motion platforms to motorsport and road car manufacturers alike. It is a real privilege to work with Ansible’s
technical experts to develop such a product.”